SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding
AG said on Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its
Pegasys hepatitis drug to be used in patients with the chronic form of
hepatitis B.

Roche said the drug was approved for both HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative disease.

Chronic hepatitis B disease causes more than 5,000 deaths a year in
the United States, Roche said. The Centers for Disease Control
estimates that 1.25 million people in the United States are chronically
infected with the disease.